Alphecca

Weekly Check on the Bias

Why, if it's Tuesday, it must be the Weekly Check on the Bias. Here's where I shed some light on the media's bias against guns and the Second Amendment.

I know what you're thinking: Where can I get one of those? Designed (actually as an anti-gun statement) by Philippe Starck, they are being marketed by Flos. More information is here.

Enough of that! I mentioned last week that Secretary of State Dr. Condoleeza Rice had appeared on Larry King and reiterated her support for the Second Amendment. Here's just a brief re-cap of what she was saying:

KING: We have a Second Amendment. People can own guns. By the way, what do you think about gun control?

RICE: The way I come out of my own personal experience, in which in Birmingham, Alabama, my father and his friends defended our community in 1962 and 1963 against White Knight Riders by going to the head of the community, the head of the cul-de-sac, and sitting there, armed. And so I'm very concerned about any abridgement of the Second Amendment.

I'll tell you that I know that if Bull Conner had had lists of -- of registered weapons, I don't think my father and his friends would have been sitting at the head of the community, defending the community.

KING: So you would not change the Second Amendment? You would not...

RICE: I also don't think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution. The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment.

KING: But doesn't having the guns, while it's protection, also leads to people killing people?

RICE: Well, obviously, the sources of violence are many, and we need to -- to get at the source of the violence. Obviously, I'm very much in favor of things like background checks, and you know, controlling it at gun shows. And there are lots of things we can do.

But we have to be very careful when we start abridging rights that our Founding Fathers thought very important. On this one, I think that they understood that there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Alabama, when in fact, the police weren't going to protect you.

And suddenly, a mystery was born because originally, the transcript on CNN's website wasn't showing this part of the interview. Could it be that the transcriber was biased against gun ownership? Or CNN? Well, we KNOW CNN is biased against them. We may never know why that segment was edited out but fortunately, the blogosphere came to the rescue with folks such as CounterTop Chronicles and InstaPundit giving the disappearance wide-play. And guess what? The missing dialogue has been restored. The blogosphere gets results!

Now you and I might not think Condi's statements were controversial but National Public Radio certainly did and it sparked a discussion on News and Notes with Ed Gordon. That link will be to the audio of the show. Gordon invited Robert George, editorial writer for the New York Post; George Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service and BlackPressUSA.com; and E.R. Shipp, columnist for the New York Daily News and professor of journalism at Columbia University. Note that all three are African Americans. I don't have the transcript so I'll have to transcribe it as I listen to it:

ED GORDON: Alright folks, let's start with what a lot of people are talking about and that is the appearance on Larry King Live and Condoleeza Rice discussed the importance of owning a gun and she recollected the story of her father taking up arms to defend other blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, saying that the constitutional right of owning guns is as important as the right to free speech and religion. A lot of people might not argue with that point as much as they are discussing now Condoleeza Rice cloaked this in a story about her father defending it in hopes of buying those who now look at it --the idea of owning a gun -- as problematic in today's times. E.R. Shipp?

E.R. SHIPP: It's not so much owning a gun, it's mis-using guns. I think it's the issue. And indeed, Condoleeza Rice was very much on message when it comes to the intent of the Constitution of the United States. In the story she told about her father and his friends in defending her neighborhood, the Second Amendment -- it is number two -- and that means that the constitutional writers thought it was very important. It comes before the right not to incriminate yourself and and the right to a fair trial and all kinds of things it comes before but it says that you have the right for a well regulated militia to defend the neighborhood. And so in that case she was right. Now, most of us don't think in complicated ways these days so it's just hearing that Condoleeza Rice says that you have the right to have a gun. But, I think her story is right on target.

ROBERT GEORGE: So to speak [laughter]. That's a high caliber argument you have there. Now, I think that's exactly correct. Now, what we're talking about, contemporary questions about gun control and things like that you should keep in mind that some of the earliest gun control regulations were came out of the post-Civil War, black codes, and they were specifically crafted in the South to prevent former slaves and families and descendants from owning weapons. In that context, Condoleeza Rice is absolutely correct and even today many people are very wary of people, of the government wanting to register peoples' guns and so forth.

GORDON: George [Curry], interestingly enough, she says she favors background checks and controls at gun-shows, she also suggests while telling this story that had authorities had registered weapons -- a list of those -- that she believed her father and others would NOT have been able to defend themselves.

CURRY: Well, I have a problem with the story. First of all, unlike my colleagues I grew up in Alabama, and so her trying to spin this as a twist on civil rights is actually, to me, disgusting. First of all, her family didn't have a whole lot to do with the civil rights movement and she said as much with an interview with the washington post. In fact, her family was intent on walking through the doors that everybody else opened. Let's be clear on that.

[At this point Curry goes into a whole long, almost un-intelligible spiel about how the founders of the country didn't acknowledge blacks, etc... --Jeff]

ROBERT GEORGE: That's not what she said though. What she said was that her family had a gun to be able to defend themselves as citizens within the United States. They were not specifically talking about whether the founders were writing them [the amendments -- jeff] with black people in mind-

SHIPP: Or women.

CURRY: She did say that but that's not how we brought down the walls of segregation in the South, with her daddy had a gun.

And so on. Interestingly enough (but I don't have the strength or time to transcribe it all) both Robert George and E.R. Shipp came down surprisingly heavily in favor of the Second Amendment and the right to defend oneself. Curry came off as a nearly illiterate buffoon who didn't (but probably wanted to) characterize Rice as "an oreo cookie" for supporting gun rights. Listen to the whole thing.

Turning to the print media and Ohio, the law allowing concealed-carry has been in effect for one year. So how's it going? From an editorial in the Medina-Gazette:

Remember all the hype when concealed-carry went into effect in April 2004?

Remember how opponents claimed it would make our streets more dangerous while proponents insisted it would make them safer?

To the extent such things are measurable, one year into the law that gives permit-holding Ohioans the right to carry hidden handguns in public, there is little appreciable impact on public safety — for better or for worse.

"I can't see where it's helped or caused a problem," said Medina County Sheriff Neil Hassinger.

The sheriff said he knows of no instance in which a permit-holder has used the privilege inappropriately or tried to carry a weapon where it's not allowed, such as school grounds or government buildings. Neither has there been any report of a crime deterred by a hidden handgun.

Some argue that's the whole idea: Criminals are less inclined to approach someone with the intent of robbing or attacking them if they think the potential victim may be armed. We'll never know how many deterred crimes there were because, well, they were deterred.

Now granted, the writer clearly states his support for the right to bear arms. Just as important, though, the sheriffs quoted in this editorial have no axe to grind and report no problems with either the permit holders or even the cost and time required to process the paperwork. There's no real bias here since firstly, this is an editorial, and secondly, the author states his own views.

I suspect that Medina is a more rural area of the state but I don't know that. So how does a reporter from a liberal area (Columbus) treat the same premise (the concealed-carry law, one year later) in a NEWS STORY (not an op-ed)? From NBC4i.com:

According to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, since the law went into effect, there has not been one measurable crime as a result of the law.

On the other hand, there has not been one measurable crime avoided because of the law.

Statistically it has made no difference, Bowersock reported.

Cornell McCleary, 610 WTVN talk show host, has a concealed carry permit.

While working at his private security company in March, he shot and wounded two men during a confrontation.

"I became the target of their aggression. If I didn't have my two cousins with me, Smith and Wesson, I (would have) been history," McCleary said.

Pediatric surgeon Dr. Jonathan Groner deals with young gunshot victims.

"The basic premise that society can be safer by ready access to lethal firepower is a corrupt premise," Groner said.

He opposes concealed weapons. He said eventually, an innocent victim will be killed.

"For the average citizen, it's not an enhancement to safety. Why? Everybody has a bad day. When people walk around with lethal firepower, it's just someone is going to have a bad day," Grover said.

It doesn't take a surgeon to spot the bias of this story; that the CCW law has no effect. Of course, the real implication is that now that folks can carry, mutants might be more afraid of attacking them. You can't measure what doesn't happen! And anyone can play with statistics. My point is that if carrying a firearm makes you feel safer, then if there is no increase of crime because of allowing concealed-carry, the law is working fine and there is no reason to scrap it. The reporter's last interview ignores the rest of the piece because apparently people AREN'T having "bad days" while exercising their new (or rather restored) right.

Finally, from the department of here's how it's done comes this from WJLA TV (MD):

Police say the Silver Spring homeowner who shot a suspected burglar used a properly registered gun.

The investigation is continuing, but authorities in Montgomery County (website - news) say the unidentified suspect apparently robbed another house 15 minutes earlier.

In that case, another homeowner found a man in front of his house on Eastway Drive. The man claimed to be looking for someone, then drove off in a red Geo. The homeowner soon realized someone broke in through an open window and ransacked a room.

Police moments later answered a call on Whitehaven Drive, where they say the suspect broke down the front door and came face to face with a gun-toting homeowner - who shot him in the hand and side.

The suspect took off in the red Geo with police chasing him until the Geo ran off the road. The man is in critical condition and charges against him are pending.

Whether defending yourself from racists or mutants, the Second Amendment has served well as the final defense for individuals, families, neighborhoods, and country. Let's all try to keep it as strong and unfettered as all the other amendments.

Elsewhere in the neighborhood:

Say Uncle has more on the CCW law I mentioned last week.

TriggerFinger reports that New York State is considering a .50 caliber ban. I suspect it will pass.

TFS Magnum highlights the fact that restraining orders are no protection.

Matt Rustler has a nice round-up of RKBA stories.

Cowboy Blob has some 44. Gun Porn.

Confederate Yankee says, "Guns don't kill people, reporters kill people. Heh.

Okay, I better get this up. You can listen to me later on NRA News (link on the left). Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by Jeff Soyer at May 17, 2005 10:07 AM